The early days of Richard Nixon

The childhood that the 37th president of the United States had in the dusty town of Yorba Linda was typical of most people born in the United States around the same time.

Like many of his classmates, he went to school barefoot. His family endured the loss of his brothers Harold and Arthur at early ages from tuberculosis.

The Nixon family sold the family farm in 1922 and moved to Whittier, where his father owned a joint market and gas station. In high school, he would get up at 4 a.m. and drive to Los Angeles to buy produce.

"It taught him about hard work, that there's no substitute for hard work," said Bob Bostock, co-curator of the Richard Nixon Centennial Exhibit.

Nixon was given a scholarship to attend Harvard College but was unable to afford the costs of traveling across the country and room and board.

Instead, he attended Whittier College, where he played football for Coach "Chief" Newman, who taught him to buck the notion that winning isn't everything. Newman would say to figure out why you lost so the next time, you win.

Frank Gannon, who worked as a White House Fellow under Nixon, believes these humble beginnings crafted Nixon into someone who was not arrogant, despite what others may think.

"If he wanted to talk with you, he'd get up from his desk and come over to where you were sitting," Gannon said.